Grandfather charged in blaze that killed 3

An Oak Forest man set a fire that killed his pregnant daughter, son-in-law and young grandson because he was upset over his daughter's marriage, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Subhash Chander, 57, told police that he resented the couple for what he considered a "cultural slight" -- that his daughter Monika Rani, 22, had married a man from a lower caste and done so without his consent, according to a court document.

Chander and his son-in-law had a strained relationship throughout his marriage to Rani, which lasted a little more than three years, said First Assistant Cook County State's Atty. Robert Milan.

"Apparently there's been trouble going on between the two of them for years," Milan said. "It's pretty clear from the defendant's own statements and other evidence that we have that he did not like his son-in-law at all."

Chander was charged Monday night with three counts of first-degree murder, one count of intentional homicide of an unborn child and one count of aggravated arson. Judge Martin E. McDonough ordered him held without bail Tuesday during a hearing in Markham.

Killed in the blaze that swept through the Le Claire Station Apartments in Oak Forest on Saturday were Rani, her husband and their son, Vansh, 3. Rani was about five months pregnant, authorities said. Her husband was identified in a court document as Rajesh Kumar, 36, although friends said his last name was Arora.

The three victims died of carbon-monoxide poisoning and smoke and soot inhalation, and their deaths were ruled homicides Monday by the Cook County medical examiner's office.

The incident was the third case in five months in which fire was used during a domestic dispute involving an Indian family in the Chicago suburbs.

In November, authorities said a 34-year-old Glendale Heights father set fire to his two young sons. The three survived, though the boys remain in critical condition. In August, a 32-year-old Naperville mother set her house on fire, killing herself and her two children.

Both cases involved couples who had moved recently from India and had troubled marriages.

According to prosecutors, Chander, who was from India, claimed he was motivated by his resentment for a son-in-law who came from a lower caste. Although it has been outlawed in India for more than 60 years, the Hindu caste system still exists in rural parts of that country and can spark feelings of entitlement in Indian culture, particularly when viewed in a religious context, experts say.

"They think they have been ordained to be from a certain caste," said Mohammad Hamid, co-founder of the Hamdard Center for Health and Human Services, a nonprofit organization that provides mental health and domestic violence support to the South Asian community.

However, Hamid said he had never handled a domestic violence case in which the caste system was a central motive. And friends of the couple said they were unaware of any strife between father and son-in-law.

Patel said he spoke with Rani's husband about five months ago and was unaware that he was having problems with Chander.

"He was happy with the way things were going," Patel said.

But on the night of the fire, Chander claims that he got into a shoving match with his son-in-law and spilled gasoline from a container that he had intended to give his daughter, Milan said.

Chander told police that he became "upset and angry" and pulled a lighter from his pocket and set the carpet on fire, according to a court record.

Milan disputed that an altercation took place, alleging that the family was probably asleep when the fire was set outside their doorway.

"They were the only family that did not escape safely," he said.

When firefighters arrived Saturday at the two-story apartment complex, residents were jumping from the balconies, and flames were consuming the 36-unit building, police said.

Although residents were frantically trying to escape the blaze, none of the survivors was injured, he said.

Residents who were displaced by the fire had been staying at a nearby Red Cross shelter, but the shelter was shut down Monday evening after everyone was placed with family and friends, said Lisa Herzog, client service coordinator for the Greater Chicago Red Cross.

After the fire was started, Chander told police that he went back to his apartment across the street and placed the remaining gasoline in a trash bin. He did not report the fire, nor did he call his daughter to make sure she and her family were safe, Milan said.

Milan said a gas station attendant identified Chander in a lineup, and that officers recovered the plastic pharmaceutical jug that held the gas and had a prescription label with Chander's name on it.

About two hours before the blaze, Chander purchased gasoline from a Citgo station less than a mile away, prosecutors said. Chander gave the attendant $5 but only filled up $3.24 in gas before leaving the station with the container and walking down the street, said Terrill Starks, the station attendant.

"That's when I thought there was something suspicious about him," Starks said. "Why would he forget his change?"